


Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken

by colorskun



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, But only Kuns and Sichengs are mentioned, Imprisonment, M/M, Mind Manipulation, Mutant Powers, Psychological Torture, Science Fiction, Telekinesis, Violence, enhanced speed, they all have powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:22:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24633769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/colorskun/pseuds/colorskun
Summary: On the worst days, Kun wasn’t entirely sure what Ten’s voice sounded like when he told him he loved him. Every time he tried to recall it, it felt off, distorted, like it was never quite right, like the real memory was escaping him.
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Qian Kun
Comments: 4
Kudos: 91





	Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken

**Author's Note:**

> So this work was heavily inspired by the Turn Back Time MV, obviously. I'd been wanting to write something ever since Kun's teasers dropped cuz he looked beautifully unhinged and it made for such interesting character building. This is a little all over the place and I don't know if it makes a lot of sense as a one-shot but the goal here is to write a full fic in this setting. I'm terrible at world-building though so I don't know if we'll ever get there. For now, I hope you enjoy this mess and don't forget to stream the MV!

Reality was beginning to dwindle, rapidly. Like sand slipping through his fingers. The more time passed by, trapped within the sterile white room, the more Kun began to doubt everything around him.

His concept of time had been the first to go, days bleeding into nights to the point where he wasn’t sure how long he had been stuck in this cell. The only thing he knew was that it surely was beginning to feel like forever.

And that wasn’t even the worst part.

The isolation was definitely far worse, so deprived of contact and stimulation that the only place to retreat back into was his own brain, giving him way too much time to analyze his every own thought to the point where he started to doubt his own memories, not sure where they stopped and his running thoughts and imagination started. 

It was positively maddening, slowly coming to doubt everything he had once had blind fate in. Only a looming sense of paranoia, memories becoming so foggy it felt impossible to latch onto them, to tell real apart from fake. 

On some days, bad days, terrible days, he found himself doubting not only himself but also the others. It had been so long since he had last seen them. He didn’t know if they were alive even. Or if they were, in what state. His own condition definitely wasn’t a good omen. It felt hard to remember them in clear detail, a feeling that made Kun sick to his stomach.

Once upon a time, he’d have given the world to these boys, and they had done the same for him. But now? Lucas’ boisterous laugh, Yangyang’s crazy antics, the way Hendery seemed to blossom whenever he was around Dejun, the silent comfort Sicheng offered after a long day, all of those seemed distant and foggy at this point to the point where Kun wasn’t even sure they had ever happened at all. It felt impossible, the existence of a time so carefree, so simple.

And then there were the memories of Ten of course. Radiant, fearless Ten who had always been by his side. Who stepped forward and spoke up when Kun felt unsure about doing so and spoke with such conviction, such pure faith in Kun’s every word that it made it impossible for the blue-haired male to doubt himself any longer. Who spent his nights tucked away in Kun’s arms, easing the many, many worries plaguing his minds away so he could get a semi-decent night of sleep. 

On the worst days, Kun wasn’t entirely sure what Ten’s voice sounded like when he told him he loved him. Every time he tried to recall it, it felt off, distorted, like it was never quite right, like the real memory was escaping him. 

Kun was losing it, had been hanging onto his sanity by a thread and with the prospect of these cursed four walls being the last thing he’d ever see, there was one thing he feared the most. It wasn’t dying, it was forgetting the others.

It was the sound of commotion in the far distance down the hall that sharpened his senses yet again, snapped him out of the haze that was trapping him inside his own mind. He knew how this went, it was the only semblance of structure his days in this hellhole had known. Some guards would storm in, kick him around for a bit till he was positively battered and bruised while taunting him with pieces of information on the others, how they were begging and screaming to make it end, how they were on the brink of death if not over it.

And Kun couldn’t do anything about it, his powers being blocked off due to the simple fact that there was nothing around for him to control and manipulate. The choice of putting him in such a blank cell had always been a deliberate one, Kun had always known that.

His expectations were deemed wrong however, as rather than the door swinging open forcefully, a loud boom shook the space instead, blowing the door out of its hinges as if it had been exploded. 

The impact caused the double-sided mirror installed in the doorway to shatter, shards scattering themselves around Kun, a few of them whizzing part his face and nicking his skin but the slight sting was the least of his problems. 

Because for the first time in a long while, he was faced with an opportunity, a weapon. 

Tapping into his telekinetic powers came easily as if he hadn’t been deprived of them for god knows how long, having the shards of glass levitating around him as a means of defense within milliseconds, before the smoke of the explosion could even settle. 

“Stay back or I swear to god I’ll kill you.” Kun growled, his voice sounding rough even to his own ears, it’d been so long since he had last spoken out loud. 

“Kun wait it’s me, Ten.” a short silhouette stepped forward through the wall of smoke, causing Kun’s blood to run cold. It indeed was Ten, or it looked like him at least, sounded like him too. Yet there was a primal urge within Kun, a defense mechanism set up so high he could barely look past it, everything in his mind screaming that this wasn’t real, that this was a deception, just the next trick they were playing on him.

“I told you not to move.” he warned. his voice was wobbling, making his threat all that more dangerous. Before all of this, Kun would not have called himself a violent person, perhaps a pacifist even. But he had long since past that point. Right now, all he wanted to do was cause as much destruction as he could. To make them suffer every last bit he had. He would bring hell with his own two hands for everything they had done to him. Had done to his friends. “Do not for a second doubt that I’ll tear you to shreds to the point they won’t be able to identify your body.” he growled.

“Kun, I don’t know what they’ve been doing to you but it’s me, I promise.” Ten’s voice was careful, hands raised to show he was harmless but never amidst all of it did he look scared. He looked calm and serious, perhaps a hint of worry but no fear. “It’s all of us, see, the others are here too.” he motioned behind him and as Kun’s gaze followed the motion, the rest was in fact there, right behind Ten, all looking disheveled but at least alive. “We’re here to get you out yeah? It’s over, I promise.”

He wanted to believe it, he really did. Kun wanted nothing more but to stumble into Ten’s arms and collapse, trust him to get them all out of here safely and pick up their lives again, hidden away far from everyone who wanted to hurt them, just the seven of them. But that sounded too good to be true and Kun knew better than to trust things that were too good to be true. These people, they wanted to break his fighting spirit until there was nothing left of him, until they could mold him to their will, that was what all of this was about. He couldn’t give in now, giving in would be showing vulnerability and if he did, it would be all over. He couldn’t risk giving them that power.

The frustration pent up in his chest had Kun feeling like he couldn’t breathe like the whole situation was suffocating him. So he did the only thing he could think of, scream at the top of his lungs, fingers tangled in his hair with a grip so tight he would probably actually be able to tear it all out. He probably looked insane but to be fair, he felt pretty insane too. 

As Kun dropped his guard for a second, as did the shards of glass he had weaponized, clattering gently on the soft padded flooring which the Thai male took as a sign to step forward once more, moving closer into Kun’s space, just only out of hands reach. “Ten don’t-” Lucas’ gruff voice warned him but Ten didn’t seem to pay the words any mind, stepping even closer. “Kun, I’m begging you, please listen to me.” his voice was calm and most of all quiet. Like it was a conversation that only concerned the two of them. 

The sudden closeness had not gone unnoticed for Kun either, not hesitating to summon one of the shards of glass from the ground, sending it flying to the palm of his hand so he could press it into the column of Ten’s throat, not yet applying pressure yet hovering dangerous close over the skin. They both knew that if he wanted to, Kun would have no difficulty slicing open Ten’s carotid artery. Still, the smaller male seemed unfazed. “Trust me, please Kun.” he just stated softly, eyes boring into Kun’s intently. “Trust me, just like I trust you not to hurt me.” 

It seemed to work, almost, Kun’s gaze softening for a second, his fingers trembling around the makeshift weapon in his hand. Truth was, he was terrified. Of making the wrong move, the wrong judgment. Right now, he was either gambling his own life or that of his lover, both seeming like terrible options. 

But what was he supposed to trust? He didn’t trust his own senses, his own memories, his own mind. How could he just trust Ten? Or whoever this person was really.

“Ten wouldn’t be this fucking reckless,” he growled defensively, pressing the shard of glass forward, applying just enough pressure to draw the first streak of blood from the other’s neck. “He would know better than this. He wouldn’t risk his life like this after being freed. He shouldn’t.” 

The words caused a humorless laugh from the smaller. “Oh darling, how could I ever leave without you.” Ten admitted, a sad smile tugging on the corners of his mouth. 

“And what if I don’t believe you?” Kun inquired skeptically, applying a little more pressure onto the shard, digging deeper into Ten’s skin, causing the Thai male to let out a strangled gasp at the stinging pain it left in its wake.

“Then you can kill me. I’m not leaving here without you Kun, do you hear me.” Ten answered passively, placing one hand over Kun’s as if guiding him, implicitly spurring him on to do whatever he felt was right, regardless of the outcome, regardless of if he’d have to pay for it with his life. “Together or not at all, remember?” 

Kun’s grip on the weapon in his hand tightened the glass cutting into the palm of his hand, streaking the reflective surface in red. Not that he paid the self-inflicted injury any mind, if anything, it was oddly grounding, keeping him in the moment rather than letting his mind go on another tangent, rather than letting his memory betray him yet again. Ten sounded so genuine, so sincere that the small part of Kun that still believed in all that was good and well in the world was positively shrieking, begging him to just trust the other already.

How many times had he sworn to blindly put his faith in Ten’s hands when it would come down to it? How often had he actually done that? Countless of times. So why was this different? He’d promised Ten he would follow him to hell and back, wasn’t that exactly what this was?

Slowly, Kun lowered the piece of glass before eventually, letting it slip from his grip, the bloodied shard of mirror staining the white floors of the cell, eyes fixated on the small gash of red along Ten’s throat. What had he done? What was he doin-

“Hey Kun, look at me. Stay with me yeah? I’ll get you out of here, safe and well. I promise you that, even if it’s the last thing I do.” Ten vowed solemnly, his hands slowly coming up to cup Kun’s face in his own. It was only with his cold fingers pressed against his skin that Kun could feel the tremble underlying to them, the fear Ten must have gone through. 

“I- you- I didn’t-” he stammered out, face pale as his hands came to cover Ten’s, evidently at a loss of words. He felt pathetic, having absolutely no clue what to do. He was always supposed to be more or less the unofficial leader of whatever their group was, had promised to do anything and everything to protect the others. But right now, he couldn’t even speak, having to rely completely on Ten to get them out of this situation as he was frozen in terror, about everything that had happened, everything that could have happened.

He could have killed Ten.

“Shh, it’s okay, I got you.” Ten whispered, pressing their foreheads together for a silent second.

“I can’t watch this any longer.” Hendery muttered quietly under his breath and had Kun not been so caught up in Ten, it would have reminded him they weren’t alone.

“We’re living on borrowed time here and I don’t trust him not to have another meltdown before we’re out of here. He’s not stable right now.” Dejun breathed out under quietly, arm tightly locked around Hendery’s waist as the other was leaning his weight on him. After all, they were still in the middle of an escape and if they wanted that to succeed, they had to get moving, quickly so.“Sicheng please, take care of it will you.” he added grimly at which Sicheng peered over at Ten, waiting for some kind of confirmation from the older.

Ten nodded slightly, almost invisibly so. 

And just like that, Sicheng dashed off with a speed only he could have pulled off, returning in a split second with a syringe that he had snatched off one of the unconscious guard in the hallway. Yangyang flinched ever so slightly at the sight, more familiar with the sedative than he would have liked during their imprisonment. 

Before Kun could even look up and register what was going on, Sicheng was by his side, sinking the needle into the side of his neck. “Sorry Kun, it’s for your own sake.” he muttered quietly. 

Kun blinked hazily for a second before slumping against Ten’s frame as the tranquilizer kicked in near immediately. 

“Shh, it’s okay.” Ten muttered quietly, pressing a kiss to Kun’s forehead. “When you wake up, we’ll be far away from here and it will all be over, I promise.”


End file.
